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Manasija Monastery: A History

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Joanikije, abbot of Manasija, soon after the collapse of the Serbian uprising in 1813, had to flee the monastery before Ottoman vengeance. According to the account given by Simeonović, in 1813 he took refuge in Austria, from where he returned to Manasija two years later.54 In the spring of 1815 the banner of freedom was again unfurled in Serbia. In Resava itself the situation was dramatic: the insurgents also found shelter in Manasija.55 And although, on the one hand, it may be held that Serbia was truly liberated only after 1878, i.e., only after formally gaining independence, on the other hand freedom from the Turks came to a certain extent already in the newly established Principality of Serbia: as far as Manasija Monastery is concerned, 1815 marks the beginning of a period of its gradual restoration. In the period from 1815 to 1822, abbot Joanikije built cells in the ruins of the Despot's refectory, and he also devoted himself to restoring the monastery estate - he planted a vineyard and plum orchards, and kept the monastery in fitting condition. Joanikije departed to a better place in the autumn of 1822.56 From this period, i.e., from the restoration of Serbian statehood, more material about Manasija Monastery has survived.57 According to Simeonović's account, after Joanikije, in 1822, the superior of the monastery became a certain hieromonk from Moldavia, nicknamed Moldovan, whose name Simeonović does not mention ("no one knows his real name," he says), and who stayed only a very short time - until Easter 1823, when he returned to his homeland.58 Simeonović also mentions the next several superiors of Manasija: first the priest Stanko, a native of Gložani, who as a widowed priest was tonsured on April 23, 1823, receiving the name Savva, and was immediately thereafter made abbot of Manasija;59 abbot Sava set up a simple iconostasis in the church, planted a plum orchard and a vineyard on the monastery land, and in the Resava fortress built a lodging with 4–5 cells, in which the brotherhood was still living three and a half decades later. Abbot Sava Popović welcomed Joakim Vujić and his companions to the monastery on August 17–18, 1826;60 he departed into eternity on February 1, 1830.61 According to Simeonović, in the same year the (widowed?) priest Milija, a native of Burovac (in the Mlava district), named Mojsej in monasticism, was appointed superior, and he was followed already in 1831 by the priest Georgije, a native of Gložani, who was not a monk; the next superior in the sequence given by Simeonović was the priest Jakov Stojišić, named Isaija in monasticism, a native of Vlakča (in the Kragujevac district),62 who had previously served as a priest in Žabari near Topola; Isaija was appointed superior on August 21, 1832.63 According to claims in the literature, in that same year, 1832, Prince (knez) Milosav Zdravković Resavac (1787–1854) procured several bells for the churches and monasteries in the area, among others two bells for Manasija Monastery.64 In that year Manasija Monastery was also visited by Prince Miloš Obrenović,65 who somewhat later, namely in 1838, gave the monastery two bells, weighing 125 and 200 pounds, for the repose of his mother Višnja (1737–1817).66 Simeonović recorded a good deal of information about abbot Isaija's contribution to the restoration of the monastery;67 after 9 years of service in Manasija, abbot Isaija was transferred to Vitovnica, and after him, on September 23, 1841, the hieromonk Samuil Janković,68 a native of Šabac, was appointed superior; during his administration, in 1842, a school was also built at the Manasija church, and shortly afterwards, on October 22, 1843, the Vrbovac church, also known as the White Church (restored in 1796 [SSZN 3708], badly damaged during the First Serbian Uprising and soon restored again69), was attached to Manasija; it is a metochion of Manasija to this day. At roughly that time, most probably in 1842, the monastery of Miljkovo officially became a metochion of Manasija Monastery.70 At his own request, the hieromonk Samuil was relieved of the duty of superior and transferred to the Miljkovo monastery on April 22, 1844, and in the same year, on April 26, the hieromonk Isaija was again appointed superior. During his second administration of Manasija, in 1845, the narthex of the Manasija Church of the Holy Trinity was roofed with sheet metal;71 during this restoration the masons plastered over the inscription of 1806 and whitewashed more than half of the south side of the church in yellow; according to Simeonović's remark, fortunately Prince Aleksandar (Karađorđević, 1806–1885) came to the monastery on pilgrimage precisely at that time and stopped the masons' whitewashing in good time; otherwise the damage would have been irreparable, for the ancient appearance of the church would have been lost. Owing to infirmity, abbot Isaija was relieved of his duties on January 29, 1851 (he reposed a year later at the home of his son, the priest Milenko Stojišić, in Jagodina). He was succeeded as superior by the professor of theology, the protosyncellus Gerasim Stojković,72 who after only three years, on October 10, 1854, was consecrated Bishop of Negotin; his successor as abbot of Manasija was the professor of theology Archimandrite Evgenije Simeonović, a native of Bela Crkva in the Banat, who took over the administration of Manasija on December 20, 1854.73

  1. Cf. I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 14.
  2. On the situation in the immediate surroundings of Manasija Monastery at that time, cf. Mitrović, "The District of Ćuprija up to 1833," 134–136. Manasija again served as a military installation in August 1815, when it was briefly seized by the rebel vojvoda Pavle Cukić (c. 1780–1817), so that from it he could resist both the Serbian forces led by Prince Miloš Obrenović (1780/1783–1860) and the Turks; this crisis did not last long (cf. M[ilan]. Đ. Milićević, The Principality of Serbia: Geography - Orography - Hydrography - Topography - Archaeology - History - Ethnography - Statistics - Education - Culture - Administration. II (Кнежевина Србија) (Belgrade: State Printing House, 1876), 1101; Ana Sibinović, The Tombstone of Vojvoda Pavle Cukić (Надгробни споменик војводе Павла Цукића) (Belgrade: Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, 2020), 5).
  3. Cf. S. A. [= Evgenije Simeonović], "Description of Manasija Monastery," 59; I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 14; Veselić, for his part, says that it is not known exactly when abbot Joanikije reposed, except that it is certain he spent about 18 years in the monastery - Veselić, Description of Monasteries in Serbia. Part 1, 60.
  4. See, for example: Stevan S. Tomić, "Archival Documents on the Conservation and Restoration of Manasija Monastery in 1844" („Архивски документи о конзервацији и рестаурацији манастира Манасије 1844. године"), Zbornik zaštite spomenika kulture, vol. II, no. 1 (1951): 13–30; Slobodan Nenadović, "Conservation Documentation on the Architecture of the Monastery of Resava" („Конзерваторска документација о архитектури манастира Ресаве"), Zbornik zaštite spomenika kulture, vol. XII (1961): 51–82; Tomić and Nikolić, Manasija: History - Wall Painting, 33–42 (especially the notes on archival material); Branko Peruničić, Upper Resava (Despotovac and Its Surroundings): 1804–1918 (Горња Ресава (Деспотовац са околином): 1804–1918) (Despotovac: Self-Managed Community of Interest for Culture, 1989); Nebojša Đokić and Ljubodrag Popović (eds.), The Eparchy of Braničevo in the First Half of the 19th Century, Historical Archive of Požarevac, Special Editions, vol. 2 (Požarevac: Historical Archive of Požarevac, 2005); Miroslav Pantić (ed.), Days of Serbian Spiritual Transfiguration XIV. Manasija Monastery (Resava) as Seen by Historical and Literary Sources, Travel Writers, Cartographers and Poets of the 19th–21st Centuries. Scholarly Conference, Despotovac - Manasija, August 20, 2006 (Дани српскога духовног преображења XIV. Манастир Манасија (Ресава) у виђењима историјских и књижевних извора, путописаца, картографа и песника XIX–XXI века), editorial board Gordana Jovanović, Zlata Bojović et al. (Despotovac: Narodna biblioteka "Resavska škola", 2007); Popović, "The Clergy of the Eparchy of Braničevo - A Contribution to Its History," 81–84, etc.
  5. Cf. I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 14. It is interesting that on September 8/20, 1823, Ilija Stevanović reported in a letter from Vrbovac to Prince Milosav Zdravković Resavac that a certain monk had died in Manasija Monastery (cf. Đokić and Popović, The Eparchy of Braničevo in the First Half of the 19th Century, 174). Whether this report perhaps refers to the aforementioned Moldovan, or to some other monk who happened to be in Manasija and died there, remains unknown.
  6. Cf. I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 14–15; Veselić, for his part, says that the priest Stanko "became a monk while Joanikije was still alive," without giving his monastic name - cf. Veselić, Description of Monasteries in Serbia. Part 1, 60.
  7. Cf. Vuič, The Journey through Serbia of Joakim Vujić, Slaveno-Serbian Writer, 83.
  8. Cf. I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 15.
  9. According to Veselić, from Topola - cf. Veselić, Description of Monasteries in Serbia. Part 1, 60.
  10. Cf. I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 15.
  11. Cf. Đokić and Popović, The Eparchy of Braničevo in the First Half of the 19th Century, 181, 214; Olivera Dumić and Nebojša Đokić, Pearls Scattered by the Morava, or the Miljkovo Monastery (Просу се бисер крај Мораве или Миљков манастир), Historical Archive, Kruševac / Special Editions. Edition "The Resava Holy Mountain", vol. 1. Project "The Spiritual History of the Morava Region", ed. Milomir Stević (Kruševac Historical Archive of Kruševac, 2006), 32–33.
  12. Cf. Slobodan Mileusnić, The Medieval Monasteries of Serbia / The Medieval Monasteries of Serbia (Средњовековни манастири Србије), English translation by Angelina Čanković-Popović and Branislav Popović, drawings by Branislav Živković, 4th edition (Novi Sad: Pravoslavna reč - Prometej, 1998), 120.
  13. Cf. "Manasija Monastery" („Манастир Манасија"), Srpski Sion: Weekly Journal for the Church, Educational and Autonomous Needs of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci, year VIII, no. 23 (Sunday, June 7, 1898): 365.
  14. Cf. I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 15–19; on conditions in Manasija Monastery in the time of abbot Isaija and in the first half of the 19th century in general, cf. Đokić and Popović, The Eparchy of Braničevo in the First Half of the 19th Century, 174–176, 181, 188, 190–191, 265–266, 277.
  15. Less than a month later, on October 17, 1841, the monastery was visited by I. Sreznjevski (Izmail Ivanovich Sreznevsky, 1812–1880), who recorded in a letter he wrote that monastic life in the monastery was led by a modestly dressed priest and two monks - cf. Radovan Košutić, "Letters from Petrograd (Original Dispatches to the 'Pr. Glasnik')" („Писма из Петрограда (изворни дописи „Пр. Гласнику")"), Prosvetni glasnik, year XV, no. 4 (1894) 193–203: 197.
  16. Cf. Vuič, The Journey through Serbia of Joakim Vujić, Slaveno-Serbian Writer, 82–84; Nedeljko Radosavljević, The Orthodox Church in the Belgrade Pashalik, 1766–1831 (The Administration of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) (Православна Црква у Београдском пашалуку 1766–1831 (управа Васељенске патријаршије)), Institute of History, Special Editions, vol. 53 (Belgrade: Institute of History, 2007), 387–388, 390.
  17. Cf. Dumić and Đokić, Pearls Scattered by the Morava, or the Miljkovo Monastery, 50–52. During the 19th century the monastery of Miljkovo (known at first under the name Bukovica) was for some time a metochion of Manasija Monastery. Some authors leave open the possibility that the monastery of Miljkovo was included in the complex of the Manasija lavra considerably earlier as well - cf. Dumić and Đokić, Pearls Scattered by the Morava, or the Miljkovo Monastery, 11–13, 50–54.
  18. Cf. I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 17; Stanojević, Bošković and Mirković, Manasija Monastery, 7.
  19. Gerasim Stojković was born in 1811 in Arad. He received his primary education in his birthplace, studied law and philosophy in Pest, and completed the seminary in Sremski Karlovci. He came to Serbia in 1839 and was appointed professor of theology. He soon received the monastic order in the monastery of Vraćevšnica. He was ordained deacon on August 27, 1839, and hieromonk on January 6, 1840. He was raised to protosyncellus on May 15, 1844, and to archimandrite, as abbot of Manasija, on May 9, 1853. As abbot of Manasija, Father Gerasim also continued his teaching at the Belgrade Seminary, where he taught dogmatic, pastoral and moral theology. He was elected and consecrated Bishop of Timok in 1854 and remained on the see of the Eparchy of Timok until the end of his life, governing the eparchy from Negotin until his repose on July 11, 1865. He was buried in the old church of Negotin. During his administration of the Eparchy of Timok, theologically educated clergy began to replace the old, which made possible more intensive work on national and spiritual renewal after the period of Turkish rule. He was remembered as a retiring and gentle man, but also as a lover of books and as one of the enlightened men of his time. He was a member of the Belgrade Reading Room (cf. Report on the Belgrade Reading Room for the Year 1851 (Извѣстіє о Читалишту београдскомъ одъ год. 1851). [Belgrade: Beogradsko čitalište, 1852], 1, 3). He was elected a regular member of the Society of Serbian Letters in 1864. Cf. Ljubomir Nikić, Gordana Žujović and Gordana Radojčić-Kostić, Materials for a Biographical Dictionary of the Members of the Society of Serbian Letters, the Serbian Learned Society and the Serbian Royal Academy, 1841–1947 (Грађа за биографски речник чланова Друштва српске словесности, Српског ученог друштва и Српске краљевске академије 1841–1947), ed. Nikša Stipčević. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts / Library Publications, vol. 24 (Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2008), 317; cf. also Bishop Sava [Vuković] of Šumadija, Serbian Hierarchs: From the Ninth to the Twentieth Century (Српски јерарси: од деветог до двадесетог века) (Belgrade: Evro - Podgorica: Unireks - Kragujevac: Kalenić, 1996), 128–129.
  20. For more details about Manasija Monastery during the administration of Archimandrite Evgenije Simeonović, see I. E. [= Evgenije Simeonović], Description of Manasija Monastery, 19–22.